Chinese ambassador talks trade hub
KRCG 13
February 2, 2010
by Kermit Miller
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- The ambassador to the United States from the People's Republic of China had breakfast in Jefferson City Tuesday morning.
Zhou Wenzhong's visit to Missouri is focused on bringing a trade hub to Lambert airport in St. Louis.
The ambassador has called it a "visionary step."
State officials said it can put Missouri at the center of economic activity with china as long as the state provides the right incentives.
"I'm not gonna say to any Chinese company, 'come because you get a one-year or two-year tax holiday on your goods.' That's a waste of time in your thinking," Midwest China Hub Commission Consultant Stephen Perry said. "You need to come to somewhere where you get a range of services in support. That is to say, law firms, accounting firms, insurance firms, real estate firms are there and ready to help somebody coming in from abroad."
The ambassador said Chinese exports to the United States increased by 40 percent last fall.
As a trade hub, St. Louis would be the center for shipping those products.
